Hardcore 493bhp BMW M4 GTS unveiled

Oct 07, 2015 - by Sam Bisby

In a world of hardcore cars getting even more hardcore, BMW has followed suit with the M4 GTS, complete with 493bhp and a £121,770 starting price.

A successor to 2010’s equally outrageous M3 GTS, the flagship M4 offers a power hike of 68bhp over the previous model, while torque has been increased to 443lb ft. As a result, the stripped back M4 reaches 62mph from standstill in a mere 3.8sec - much quicker than the standard M4’s 4.3sec and even more spritely than the 4.4sec M3 GTS.

The focused M4 GTS achieves its additional grunt predominately from a new water injection system for the twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-six powertrain. Despite the M4 GTS’s output being slightly less than the Mercedes-AMG C63 S Coupe’s 503bhp, BMW is much more concerned by the power-to-weight ratio of the M4 GTS, with the car’s mass substantially lighter than the standard car.

BMW has managed to strip most of this weight loss from the M4 GTS’s cabin, where the rear seats are noticeably absent and in its a place a rigid roll cage and the front seats have been replaced by full-on bucket racing seats. The latter allows for a 20kg weight loss on its own.

Meanwhile, a carbonfibre-reinforced plastic bonnet saves about 3kg and standard-fit carbon-ceramic brakes 8kg; employment of other carbonfibre components in and around the M4 GTS help this diet even further to achieve a 80kg total loss to bring it down to 1510kg altogether.

Visual and performance upgrades include a manually adjustable suspension system and a titanium sports exhaust system. An M sports steering wheel clothed in Alcantara greets the driver inside, while the dash also sports the same light material and is graced with orange GTS badging.

Of course, like the last GTS, the M4 version dons a wild fixed rear wing, while a carbon diffuser and front splitter create an aggressive look for the road-legal track car.

Like the standard M4, the GTS puts its power solely through BMW’s seven-speed M DCT dual-clutch transmission, complete with launch control.

A lap time around the Nurburgring of 7min 28sec has been claimed by BMW for the M4 GTS, which is a whopping 20 seconds faster than its predecessor.

Like the M3 GTS, the M4 variant will be limited in numbers, this time to 700 and the UK will get just 30 of them in right-hand-drive guise; BMW says, unsurprisingly, its had considerably more interest than there are cars. Three exterior colours will be available in the forms of black, white and matt grey.

BMW will put the M4 GTS into production by the end of the year, with the lucky few that have grasped an order receiving their cars next spring.